The labor advocate. [volume], August 28, 1915, Page 5, Image 5

About The labor advocate. [volume] (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1912-1937

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THE LABOR ADVOCATE
BJWS-E
The John Street
Welfare Association
President Johnsing Elaborates On The Possibilities of
Municipal Ownership as Concerns The Afro-American
of Today.
"Among them there political buds vc
have with us, Ah arises to remark that
imtnic'pal is AA 1 X in principle," stated
President Erastus Johnsing of the John
Street Improvement, Welfare, Uplift and
General Do-Your-Ncighbor-Good Socie
ty, at its regular weekly meeting Friday
night.
"Taking sides in politics is like taking
a soul-mate. A feller can't take one .of
them things lessen he takes a powerful
lot o' argument free, gratis, fo' nuthin'
along with it. Hut when it comes to this
lieah nninic'pal ownership game, there
ain't no argument a tall. We niggers
is strong fcr it.
"Of co'sc ytt all is done heard Brother
Higelow gyrate on all otiah prominent
tho'fares and you know all you got ter
do is ter sign yer cross mark ter a scrap
o' paper and if the' Rcv'rend gets 'nough
scraps o' paper we niggers gits red lights
fcr six cents a hour. So on ev'ry fo'
lights, us shines saves 'nough to pu'ehase
a shot at th' booze camp down-stairs.
Theahfo' Ah passes a resolution ter
recommend munic'pal ownership ter all
Afro-Americans whether they has ter
woik or has healthy wives. Not only
will th' John Street Welfare Association
register a vote o' thanks to Rcv'rend
Uigelow. but Ah requests Brother Smift
ter repo't th' good woik ter the Friendly
Sons o' Saint Booker, at th' ncx' con
clave. "Notwilhstandin th' fact that Parson
Bigelow is a patriot and th' step-father
o th' country in gin-ral and Cincinnati
in partiklar. we all know as how he
misquotes hisself on 'cassions. Ez Ah
remarked befo', ef th' Rcv'rend gent'm'an
exuded gas instid o'' hot air: Mistah
Freeman, would . Jiave ter .study iih
-iwoikin' o' Mike Keefc and try fo' ter
land hisself another job. So 'ef the'ah
was no othah so'ce o' information fo'
corob ration an' substantiation than th'
em'nent sky pilot, we Afro-Americans
might have ouah doubts. But we ain't
got no doubts, is we? An' whyfo'?
Brethren, theah ain't no less a man
than Charley Sawyer that has done spoke
Ins little piece fo' munic'pal ownership.
Fren's, Afro-Americans an' Fellow John
Strectcrs, we is all in favah o' mimic'-
Building Trades Council
(Continued from page 1.)
lations with them or from causing or
procuring any person to cease employ
ment with them. Or from sending any
word by mail or otherwise, to any per
son which would in any way hinder
their patronage or business. These are
only a few of the things which they ask
ed the Court to do.
"Ex-Judge A. Z. Blair was the chief
counsel for the plaintiffs, the Master
Plumbers' Association, and the case was
tried by Judge James W. tarbell, of
Georgetown, Ohio. Judge Thomas of
the Scioto Court of Common Pleas, re
fused to sit because of the shoe workers'
strike, which occurred in Portsmouth a
few years ago, in which he was sitting
as presiding judge when the matter came
into his court. Judge Blair was assisted
by Attorney Kimble of Portsmouth, and
the counsel for the unions were Attor
ney Edgar G. Miller and myself. Part
of the case was heard at Portsmouth,
and it was finally argued in Cincinnati,
after various briefs had been filed on
various points.
"In behalf of the unions, we based
our entire fight on the Clayton Act,
passed by Congress, the purpose of
which is to relieve organized labor from
the effects of the Sherman antitrust law,
in which I am here quoting in part for
the benefit of the readers of the Laijor
Advocate:
"'Sec, 0. That the labor of a human
being is not a commodity or article of
commerce. Nothing contained in the
antitrust laws shall be construed to for
bid the existence and operation of labor,
agricultural, or horticultural organiza
tions, instituted for the purposes of mu
tual help, and not having capital stock
or conducted for profit, or to forbid or
restrain individual members of such or
ganizations from lawfully carrying out
the legitimate objects thereof; nor shall
such organizations, or the members
thereof be construed to be illegal com
binations or conspiracies in restraint of
trade, under the antitrust laws.
" 'Sec. 20. That no restraining order
or injunction shall be granted by any
court of the United States, or a judge
or the judges thereof, in any case be
tween an employer and employes, or be
tween employers and employes, or be-
Qnalttatt nttln Utr urolr.
Bimfct Iiiii 5jaun gelttfrrt.
Telephone Canal 1869.
pal ownership, ef th' Democrats gets it
an lets th' Republicans run it, under
the able direction o' one Rud Hynicka,
him as was one o' th' brightest spots o'
th formah all-powerful glory-be Repub
lican trey-spot, that bossed ouah fair
city wit' a cast-iron hand.
"When Brother Bigelow lights on a
topic o' conversation on th' street cor
ner its cuz he needs a text befo' he kin
pass th' hat but when ouah fren' Rud
takes up somethin' fo' the' benefit o' th'
common 'peepul.' we all knows that he
do it out o' th' fulness of his heart.
Cons'quenlly when Rud solemnly lays
his foahpaws on a petition and devoutly
says Ah do,' then -we niggers kin drink
wit a steady hand, cuz we knows what
evah a gm'rous hearted gent'man says,
lie do. A motion is in ordah ter place
Brother Rudyard's name on th' Glory
List o' th' Immortal Fren's o' th' Colored
Race, along with Booker T. and Jim
Co n Icy.
"Mali Fren's, great as six cent light
is( its only th' outcroppin' of a greater
principle. Think of a municipal street
car line. Ef th' city owned th' street
cars, th' John Street Org'nization would
call on all the Afro-American element
ter make 'cm run ev'ry car in ouah
municpal confines up and down John
street. We'd establish a Carlisle Ave
nue Line for real. We'd see ter it that
tlij niggers gits theah shore o' jobs on
th back platform and that all cash regis
ters be removed. Also that ef wc can't
spit on th floor, we kin at leas' spit on
th back o th' seat in front of us.
"Satl fer ter relate, th' only munic'pal
owned thing in town is th' water woiks.
Howsomevah watah ain't .gopdJeKmuch
outside o' iism' it fcr chasers an' in a
pinch we could do without that.
"Nevatheless they is great possibili
ties in a munic'pal owned saloon. Wit'
no license ter pay a gent'man could git
pilfhcated fer half price or twict as
often. Theahfo', we, the John Street
Improvement Association is fer munic'
pal ownership, first, last and forevah,
straight across the boards, honest Injun,
cross our several hearts. You all is
adjourned."
tween employes, or between persons em
ployed and persons seeking employment,
involving, or growing out of a dispute
concerning terms or conditions of em
ployment, unless necessary to prevent
irreparable injury to property, or to a
property right of the party making the
application, for which injury there is no
adequate remedy at law, and such prop
erty or property right must be described
with particularity in the application,
which must be in writing and sworn to
by the applicant, or by his agent or at
torney. " 'And no such restraining order or
injunction shall prohibit any person or
persons, whether single or in concert, '
from terminating anv relntinn n( iJ
ployment, or from ceasing to perform
any work or labor, or from recommend
ing, advising, or persuading others by
peaceful means so to do; or from at
tending at any place where any such per
son or persons may lawfully be, for the
purpose of peacefully obtaining or com
municating information, or from peace
fully persuading any person to work or
to abstain from working; or from ceas
ing to patronize or to employ any party
to such dispute, or from recommending,
advising, or persuading others by peace
ful and lawful means so to do; or from
paying or giving to, or withholding
from, any person engaged in such dis
pute, any strike benefits or other moneys
or things of value; or from peacefully
assembling in a lawful manner, and for
lawful purposes; or from doing any act
or thing which might lawfully be done
in the absence of such dispute by any
party thereto; nor shall miy of tliu
nets specified in tills piungiapli hu
considered or hd,! to In- violations
of any law of the United States.
"This .was the first test in the United
States of the operation of the Clayton
Act, as above mentioned, and therefore
it is of great interest to organized labor
at large. Judge Tarbell decided the case
at Portsmouth, Tuesday afternoon, Aug
ust 24, 1915, and organized labor won a
complete victory. lie refused to enjoin
anything. He dismissed the petition of
tlie plaintiffs and threw the case out of
the court completely. The Judge, in do
ing so, decided that the employers must
come into court with clean bauds. It
is an old maxim in equity, that "he who
seeks equity must first do equity," and
14a-"aB
1Dal"Ut '
CINCINNATI, O.
another maxim is, "he who comes into
.-; court of equity for relief, must do so
with 'clean hands.' The Court evidently
saw that the Employers' Association did
nothavc 'clean hands,' for they violated
their contract, broke their agreement
and locked out their men and tried to
separate and dissolve the unions, so as
to make them ineffective and to make
their power nil.
"The Court also decided the Clayton
Act was good law. That labor unions
did not come under the Sherman anti
trust law.
"That strikers have the right, in the
conduct of a lawful strike, tp use peace
able means to induce customers or pros
pective customers of their employer to
withdraw their patronage from him and
give it to others.
"That workmen have the right either
severally or in a body to quit work, and
by reason or argument induce others to
stand with them in their demands, even
as acrainst a specified employer of labor,
and they may use means to keep others
from seeking employment with such em
plover. "The right of a union man to refuse
to work on a job for the reason that
a non-union man of some other craft is
encaged thereon.
"That a union man can quit or refuse
to work on a Job for the reason that
a non-union man of some other craft is
emnloved, is without question.
That a contract between an individual
employer and a labor union, in which
the employer binds himself to employ
only workmen who arc members of the
union, and only such members that are
in good standbier, is not against public
policy and is valid."
During the trial. Attorney Nicholas
Klein, in behalf of the unions of Ports
mouth, addressed the Court in part as
follows :
"The medical man docs not hesitate
to apply a new discovery regardless of
what some great ancient doctor may
have prescribed otherwise at another
time. What would you say of a man
trying to travel by oxen team in tin's
ace of clcctriritv and steam and rapid
transportation? What would you think
of a man trying to disseminate com
munication by ancient courier methods
in this age of telephones and wireless
telegranhy? These questions answer
themselves, and yet courts have sought
to apply legal doctrines culled out of
ancient times when master and servant
worked side by side, when master and
servant were practically on a par as in
dividuals, capable of contracting with
each other as free agents without one
having advantage over the other by rea
son of any concerted accumulation of
either capital, or opportunities, or men
to times when we have great big work
shops, employing under one roof thou
sands of men toiling in the making of
fabulous sums of wealth, where things
are so systematized and where work is
so subdivided that the employe becomes
but a machine attache, a man without
a trade, and is removed from the real
owner of the business by the intervening
of innumerable superintendents, fore
men, and assistant foremen, and where
seldom arc his demands brought to the
man who is financially most interested
in the business.
"Of what worth is it to the State to
permit one to enjoy property, life, lib
erty and the pursuit of happiness under
the condition, where thousands of
workmen are ill-fed, ill-housed and over
worked to the detriment of their health
and morals? Is a person under such
circumstances a free agent? Can wc in
all fairness, without merely theorizing,
after looking into the conditions of the
workers, say that a workman, in dealing
with such a concern, is a free agent,
and can freely contract for the sale or
hire of his labor?
"When we see that unions have grown
in numbers and have increased in mem
bership, and have done a world of good
to humanity and arc still striving for
those things in spite of past oppression,
in spite of unfavorable court decisions
and injunctions and punishments for
contempt, it must make us pause to think
that the march of progress can never
be thwarted by persecutions' and prose
cutions in any form.
"When unions have been obliged to
go to other sources than the courts for
relief for the great mass of mankind
that labor and toil for their livelihood,
is it any wonder that the sentiment ex
ists that the court is not labor's ally?
"Unions seek no greater rights during
a strike than they have at other times,
but they do believe the courts should not
be so hasty in aiding their industrial
enemy by becoming a party to their con
troversies, giving aid to thus assist in
breaking up their efforts iu their strug
gles for the things for which they arc
striking without first attempting to solve
the merits of the strike.
"Perhaps I have mingled with the
unions and their members ns few mem
bers of the bar have done. I know their
sentiments and their expressions. The
greatest ambition T entertained is that
courts will some day come to sec labor
and its struggles, not from a distance.
Mont, Elm 498 Moeileii'i Drjojli Beer MU In Ordtr
AUF WIEDERSEHEN
CAFE AND GARDEN
limy C Riolingi, Ed. L Sltpkinr, Mjr.
Corner Madison and Taylor Aves. OAKLEY
Phone,
Canal W. 1078
Al.l. nocirn;
UNION MAOI2
HENRY BEHRINGER & SON
TAILORS and CLOTHIERS
S. E. Cor. John and Oliver St.
CINCINNATI. O.
"MM- -- 1
"
GEO. KUHLMANN
COAL AND GAS RANGES
All kinds of Sheet Metal Work
Roofing and Spouting
1207 Main Street, Phone, Canal 21
not in the light of precedents, but in the
light of modern reasoning and justice
which demands that the human rights
of the countless men and women that
must toil are entitled to 'EQUAL' pro
tection of the law in a manner that will
be of practical benefit to them ; that that
'EQUAL' protection shall not be based
upon the doctrine of the right of con
tract, regardless of who the parties are,
but that there must be 'EQUAL' pro
tection where the parties to that contract
are equally situated, equally potent,
equally efficient, equally competent, and
equally strong, not only legally, but
economically, to maintain their positions.
"Union men are on the whole, law
abiding, peaceable and patriotic, and la
bor unions are peaceable institutions.
In gallantry, in bravery, in heroism, and
in time of need, neither this nor any
other nation has ever found them want
ing. A labor union, to be of any good
to its membership, must be a militant
body. No institution ever survived that
was not militant. 'Eternal vigilance is
the price of liberty.' Notwithstanding
what enemies may have said of our la
bor organizations, they are law-abiding,
and stand for ' peace, but they do not
stand for the peace that comes with ser
vility. "The labor union is not a trust; none
of its achievements in behalf of its
members and society at large can
properly be confounded with the perni
cious and selfish activities of the illegal
trust. A trust, even at its best, is an
organization of the few to monopolize
tlie production and control the distribu
tion of a material product of some kind.
The voluntary association of the work
ers for mutual benefit and assistance is
essentially different. Even if they seek
to control the disposition of their labor
power, it must be remembered that the
power to labor is not a material com
modity. "There can not be a trust in some
thing which is not yet produced.
"The human power to produce is the
antithesis of the material commodities
which become the subject of trust con
trol.
"Public opinion is practically unani
mous in recognizing the union as one
of the most essential means of securing
for the workman his rights, protecting
him against injustice, and putting him in
touch with all the best thought and most
advanced movements of ethical forces
of civilization.
"The aims and purposes of our labor
movement have often been stated before,
but will bear brief restatement at this
time, when the attempt is being maita in
many directions to so cripple the activi
ties of our unions that they may be
shorn of their usefulness.
"Our unions aim to improve the stand
ard of life, to uproot ignorance, and
foster education; to instill character,
manhood, and independent spirit among
our people; to bring about the recogni
tion of the interdependence of man upon
his fcllowman. Wc aim to establish a
normal workday, to take the children
from the factory and workshop and give
them the opportunity of the school, the
home, and the playground. In a word,
our unions strive to lighten toil, edu
atc their members, make their homes
more cheerful, and in every way con
tribute an earnest effort towards making
life the better worth living. To achieve
these praiseworthy ends we believe that
all the honorable and lawful means are
both justifiable and commendable and
should receive the sympathetic support
of every right-thinking American.
"If the workers are to be deprived of
their opportunities for self-improvement
and independence, if they are to be held
at the will of the employer the indus
trial condition of our country would
sink lower than that of slavery.
"The slave owner was usually re
strained from going to extremes in the
treatment of his slaves by the fact that
they represented property value to him.
The wage-workers would be more under
the control of the unscrupulous employer
than was the slave under his owner."
CHESTER Now
100 New Features 1,000,000 New Thrills, fjyroplane, dolden Twisters, Wlinrle
Wocfrle, Pell Alcll, Merry Weddlnn, Etc., Etc.
CD 1717 VAUDEVILLE. SMITTIE'S HAND CONCERTS, CAHARET AT CLUB-HOUSE,
r I. IjIj INCLUDINO "CHARLIE CHAPLIN," MOV1N0 PICTURES.
I1ATHINQ, IIOATINQ, DANCINQ HEST CUISINE IN C1TV.
Meals fo Order Moerlein's Beer
PHONE CANAL 1262
Auf Wiedersehen
Cafe and Restaurant
McHUQH &. HOCK
Successors to Edw. L. Stophany
S. W. COB. TWELFTH AND WALNUT STS.
SMOKE
SONADA t
"Quality Only" !
and I
M. IBOLD
(SIG21RS
THE EIGHT -HOUR
TOBACCO CO.
Is owned and operated by Cincinnati peo
ple. All its brands are made by members
o Tobacco Workers Local No. 25.
It Is the only Tobacco Company
in the United States which has
adopted the eight-hour d ay.
8-HOUR UNION SCRAP
ALL DAY SCRAP
HOME RUN SCRAP
WE ARE HERE
Economy Shoe Repairing Go. !
Nc olkr lira lie Bst Wlit Oik leitber nsei ui we
fix 'em while 70a wis. Prices ReiseoaMe.
N. W. Cor. Fifth and Walnut
i Oppnile Post Office. Phone. Cull 3322-L
RniJence Pane, Weit 22S2.R
Wm. Glandorf Moving and Storage Co.
FIRST CLASS STORAGE
FURNITURE PACKED FOR SHIPPING
833-835-837-839 Hopkins St.
Telephone, W. 609 CINCINNATI, O.
WHITE CROSS AMUULAXCE
Prompt and af Helen t aerrlce for tha traaiporfa
llon of pailenta to and from hoanea, noapliali. or
the R. tt. siatioot. Cart fa) amotion. Noililotf
lit It fn town, Inapectloa InTlted.
JOHN J. GILLIGAN,
Eighth, Near Broadway.
Phones: Canal 1802 and 1803. North 1137
DR. E. H. HAGERMAN
DENTIST
307 Provident Bank Bldg.
Phone Canal 152
Office Hours: 10 A. M. to 2 P. M., ud alio by ippobtment
1065 Central Ave.
Phone. West 3654-R
2.30 r". to 8.30 p.m. 8 a. m. to 10 a. m.
The Busiest Place in The City
Niemes' Cafe
Restaurant and Billiard Hall
9 W. Sth St. CUS DOLL. Msr.
The HUB CAFE
42 E. FIFTH ST.
CINCINNATI - - OHIO
OLD RESERVE
Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
8 YEARS OLD
$1.00 Full Quart
H. BOEDEKER.
508-10 MAIN ST.
Open
Bigger, Better, Brighter
Than Ever.
i y